DOT to tour guides: Make others see PH in different light

MANILA-- Instead of just sharing information that is already available on the internet, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo encouraged tour guides to tell personal stories about tourists' journeys and make others see the Philippines in a different light.

Teo made this call during the recently-concluded 8th National Tour Guides Convention and General Assembly held at Hotel Jen in Manila on Monday.

The event brought together travel and tour stakeholder representatives from both public and private sectors, including delegates from the Southeast Asia Tourist Guides Association, and 350 members of the Philippine Federation of National Tour Guides from all over the country in one venue.

Tour guide training should be able to empower all of you on how to tell the story of your destinations. You know your destinations better and these stories must come from you. Take ownership of these stories, Teo said in a statement.

Go beyond the usual training on customer service. If our guests and visitors find the stories interesting and inspiring, they will stay longer, contribute to the local economy more and see the Philippines differently, she added.

Teo, meanwhile, disclosed that she has given instructions to the Regional Offices of the DOT to devote funding for the continuous training of tour guides all over the country.

A total budget of PHP 1.2 M has been earmarked by the DOT for its three-pronged training program for tour guides which covers the regional tour-guiding course, continuing education, and community guiding seminar.

As of February of this year alone, a total of 49 applicants from the National Capital Region (NCR) have applied for the regional tour-guiding course, 16 of whom took the course and eight are in the waiting list for the second run.

The DOT expects the numbers to rise as compared to 2016, which only saw a total of 44 newly accredited tour guides, 20 of whom were from the NCR and 22 from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

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